This is a sample of a well written short story for your information. It received an
excellent grade. DO NOT COPY!!! See Ms Lowman for other samples.

Name
Date
Eart Science 1, Tues/Thur

Short Story

Indent Finally school was over and winter break was here! Katie couldn’t be more
excited. She had just finished her third semester of college and had done extremely
well. She decided that she would reward herself for all of her hard work. This winter
break would be different from all the rest; she was going to spend this break in
Mammoth with seven of her closest friends.

Indent Katie’s friend, Keith, had a cabin in Mammoth and had invited everyone up to
stay for a week. It was right after Christmas so everyone was thrilled to tryout their new
snowboards and skis. They would be there for New Years and knew that they would
have the time of their lives. With no parents around, how could it possibly get any
better?

Indent “Man I can’t wait to tear up the slopes. The mountain just got 2 feet of snow a few
days ago!” Cory was an avid skier and he lived to ski. “I just want to relax in the hot tub all
week” exclaimed Jackie. Jackie was more of an “inside girl” and didn’t like to be cold.
Troy and Chris were in the back arguing about who could snowboard down the mountain
faster. “Dude, I’ll beat you any day with my eyes closed” said Chris. Keith just couldn’t
wait to get there because all he wanted to do was eat. “Who cares about going skiing, the
snow will be there for awhile. I just want a big fat juicy steak tonight.” Zane was just
out of it; he was passed out and drooling on the window. He didn’t care if he slept the
entire week; at least he was with his friends and away from his parents. Amy was upfront
with Katie and they just ignored everyone in the back and sang along to all their favorite
“road trip” songs.

Indent They had finally arrived and it took them about an hour and a half to fully unload.
There was so much stuff that it looked as if they were moving in for a month. They knew
they only had a week to enjoy their time here, so they wanted to get as much in as
possible. It was getting a bit late and all had decided that it was much too cold and too
late to hit the slopes tonight. Instead, they all went out for a nice big dinner to start out
the trip. Keith was satisfied with the choice made and, needless to say, he got that steak
he had been craving.

Indent Everyone woke up early to avoid the crowds at the ticket window. They wanted
to get in at least one day where everyone went skiing together. The rest of the trip,
everyone was free to do as they pleased. They piled into the Suburban and headed to the
resort. It was a Thursday so they were not expecting to be too crowded. Everyone
purchased their lift tickets and made a mad dash for the chair lifts. They had never seen
so much snow in one place.

Indent Everyone skied/snowboarded at different levels so within ten minutes everyone
had gone their separate ways. They were divided into groups of two’s and three’s; however,
they had all decided that they would meet at the lodge for lunch around noon. That
would allow them three and a half hours of skiing.

Indent Katie and Amy, of course, stayed together and were having so much fun that
morning. They had even met a couple of cute snowboarders who had invited them
to hang out later that night. “How hot were they?” Amy said excitedly. “Way hot!”
agreed Katie.

Indent Everyone else was having the time of their lives. There were huge jumps and tons
of rails throughout all the runs. All of the guys stayed together and were having
competitions of their own. Troy and Chris raced down the mountain, snow flying up
everywhere and they carved down the snow like a knife cutting through butter. Chris
was right and he did smoke Troy, but it was all out of good fun.

Indent About an hour or two into the morning, something strange was going on. Jackie,
Zane, and Keith were all on the chair lift. Amy and Katie were down at the lodge talking
to their new hot friends. Cory, Troy, and Chris were somewhere on the mountain. The
ground started to shake; just a small, sharp jolt. It happened instantaneously and everyone
around just ignored it thinking nothing of it. However, a second wave hit and this
time it shook the ground harder. You could hear the yells from the people on the chair
lift as it was stopped immediately. This second wave that hit lasted a few more seconds
than the previous wave and it had a rolling effect. Snow began to fall as if an avalanche
was going to occur.

Indent Katie and Amy were scared because they knew that the rest of their friends were
up on the mountain somewhere. There was one more shake that was felt and this one
was the strongest of them all. It shook the ground for a good ten seconds. People were
freaked out by this and began panicking. Hundreds of people ran to their cars before
anything else could take place. Snow began falling down from the slopes and people
were tumbling down with it. The people who were on the chair lift dropped and fell
when the line snapped causing numerous injuries.

Indent “This can’t be good” Katie worriedly said to Amy. They turned around and saw
that on the outskirts of the trails fire had erupted. There must have been a broken
line somewhere. The fire department and paramedics had arrived immediately and were
trying to help everyone as quickly as they could.

Indent Somehow Keith and Jackie had made it down and had seen Katie and Amy.
They explained that Zane had broken his leg and was going to come down with the
paramedics. They were still really worried about the other three boys who had been on
the mountain. Some people were buried in the snow and they knew that they would not
survive long if help didn’t reach them soon. Katie just prayed that they would be OK and
that this would soon be over. Keith was still confused on what had even happened. Amy
explained to him that there had been an earthquake and the last shake that they had felt
was a Rayleigh wave and was really quite strong. She also told him that the fire that was
started was due to a broken gas line of some sort.

Indent Search and Rescue teams flocked to the mountain. They were working as quickly
as they could to recover any bodies that had been buried in the avalanche. In the meantime,
Troy had come stumbling down the mountain. He was bruised and badly cut on his face.
Everyone was happy to see him and asked him where the other two boys were. Troy had no
idea and couldn’t remember the last time he had seen them. “This is no t good,
this is not good, this is not good” said Amy to the rest of the group. By this time most of
them were crying and were starting to become hysterical. “This was
supposed to be a fun vacation that we could all enjoy together and now we don’t even
know if we are all going to make it back home alive!” Jackie was very concerned.

Indent About an hour later a guy in yellow came over to us and explained that they had found
our two friends. They were in stable condition and were being taken to a nearby hospital.
“Whew”; a huge sigh of relief was let out by all.

Indent Once again they piled into the Suburban and jolted to the hospital. They were let
in to see their friends and finally everyone was together. They were happy to see that
everyone had been OK. “That earthquake was really something”, said Cory as he lay in
the hospital bed. “Doctors say that we should be free to go in a few hours” said Chris.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I say we leave Mammoth and head to my parents
house in Vegas to spend the rest of our vacation and ring in the New Year” said Amy.
All agreed that that was a fabulous idea. That night they were packed and were once
again on the road, hoping once again for a great and well earned vacation!



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